General Fishkeeping

Garden ponds can be home to many fascinating creatures, some of which are useful to the pond keeper and help to balance vital dynamic processes. These are especially useful in the low-tech surroundings of the wildlife pond. Read more about the benefit of snails and mussels here.

If you’ve been looking longingly out the window yearning for some fresh air, then spare a thought for your fish – they live in an environment that depends on us to keep things sweet. Water changes are as much a part of the hobby as glass aquaria, so let’s look at what goes on inside the tiny world we create for our pets and how we can tweak things to make the most of maintenance.

There are many significant differences between ponds designed to cater for wildlife and those where fish are the priority. After a winter of heavy rain and the effects of accumulated leaf litter, it’s a good time to take a look at how fish health is impacted by KH or carbonate hardness. Find out more here:

Those of us who share our home with pets are luckier than most in a lockdown, particularly if those pets inhabit an aquarium. Studies have shown fish to be relaxing to watch and where better to escape miserable winter weather than a little tropical world of your own creation? With time on our hands, there’s plenty to be doing to make the most of this opportunity.

Fish are incredibly diverse and sophisticated animals. We’ve domesticated a few of them and still underestimate them - even when some of them have found a way to live in areas where’s there’s no water for months of the year...

White Spot (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis) is one of the most common diseases in ornamental fish. Find out everything you need to know to care for your freshwater fish along with products you can use to treat this condition.

Check out the latest news in the fishkeeping industry as we all attempt to get back to some form of normality and find out about a number of new products to hit our stores very soon including a new product in our AquaCare range of treatments and a couple of fantastic new aquariums to look out for.

After weeks of lockdown and disruption on a global scale, and with things starting to return to a ‘new normal’, Paul Tapley offers some insight as to what to expect in our stores as lockdown starts to ease.

When you work in a fish shop, you get used to the fact that some fish don’t really sell themselves as much as the flamboyant livebearers or neons do.  These Cinderella fish don’t tend to blossom into full colour without time or the right conditions, such as a planted aquarium. Find out more...

When the holiday season stretches before us and thoughts turn to beaches and suntans (or even just getting away from the homes where we’ve spent those long weeks of lockdown!) many people wonder how best to care for the aquatic members of their family while they’re away enjoying a well-deserved break.

So, one more month has seemingly flown by as the UK increasingly continues to return to some form of ‘normality’ post-lockdown. Check out Stuart Ashley's latest article on what's happening at Maidenhead Aquatics this month. 

Stuart Ashley reflects on the challenges of the last few months and shares some of the latest news around new products in the industry and what's coming soon to Maidenhead Aquatics.

In response to the raging global pandemic, Tappers takes a look at a few viral fish diseases which no amount of hand washing can fix.

Like gardeners, aquarists are faced with a massive array of species to discus and not all of them have common names.Sadly the use of binomial names is often viewed as elitist or even mocked by those who don’t understand what they’re missing out on and to be fair, they’re not altogether unfounded. Read on...

In this month's 'Fresh Off The Net', Stuart Ashley looks at the impact of Brexit on fishkeeping and the re-opening of Indonesia to export cultured corals again.

This month Tappers takes a sideways glance at the use and abuse of tiny tanks. The aquaria might have got smaller but the fishes haven’t...

In this month's ‘fishue’ of Fresh Off The Net, Stuart Ashley talks about planning for the New Year, some of the new products you can look forward to seeing in our stores and online in 2020 as well as some of the ways in which Maidenhead Aquatics is doing our bit to help the environment.

Our review competition winner this month is Paul Shroeder who receives a £50 Maidenhead Aquatics voucher to spend at her chosen store! 

Stuart Ashley introduces the first in a new series of features where each month we will be looking at new and exciting product to be hitting the shelves over the coming months.

This month we introduce a new feature from our resident fish geek Tappers, mostly to stop him ranting about things in the office. This month he shares his thoughts on the trends and fashions that have come and gone, fuelled by the quest for less natural beauty in what’s already an amazing and diverse group of animals.